


Out of My Mind

by RedReap1812



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Character Death, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Panic Attacks, Swearing, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29107344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedReap1812/pseuds/RedReap1812
Summary: Seiko couldn't breathe.Her best friend was in the hospital because of the flu and she didn't know how to help. She wasn't even with her. Her vision started to blur as she tried to control her breathing.
Relationships: Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Male Character





	Out of My Mind

**Author's Note:**

> "Text Here" is for dialog.
> 
> [Text Here] are for thoughts.
> 
> {Text Here} are for text messages.
> 
> (This is sort of related to my "Unfamiliar" fic, just different names and such.)

**10 + 11**

Seiko didn't know when everything started hurting.

She remembers seeing Rikona, her best friend, _collapse_ while they were walking to class and she immediately called for help.

It was hard to remember a lot of things after that. She remembered seeing one of the sensei's pick Rikona up and moving her outside to wait for the ambulance while another sensei moved her outside.

She remembered feeling her hands shake and the slight ringing in her ears.

Seiko remembered sensei telling her to stay with Rikona in the ambulance while she calls her parents and Rikona's aunt. Seiko remembers nodding shakily as she sat beside Rikona's laying body.

The ride to the hospital was pretty hectic. She remembered the doctors muttering something about the flu, but she was just trying to stop her hands from shaking and the ringing in her ears.

Seiko remembered stuttering and stammering to the doctors that she'll stay in the waiting area to wait for her family. The doctors looked hesitant but left her alone to treat her best friend.

Now here she is, sitting in one of the chairs, shaking like a leaf.

Seiko couldn't breathe.

Her best friend is in the hospital because of the flu and she doesn't know how to help. She wasn't even with her. Her vision started to blur as she tried to control her breathing. 

The 10 year old is so confused. She feels blood rushing to her ears as her vision started blurring, as if tears were building up behind her eyes. She feels her heart thudding almost painfully in her ribcage, making it harder to try breathing.

She feels lightheaded while she absently notes that she's curling in on herself. She thinks she's sweating.

_[Whatwhatwhat - what'shappening - Ican'tbreatheohGodwhycan'tIbreath - please -]_

Seiko then feels her hand move from where it was covering her head _[Whendidthatgetthere - ?]_ and she feels it being placed on a solid, warm surface. It almost feels like - a body?

She hears the person talking but it's muffled and the ringing in her ears is still _[so loud - ohGodit'ssoloud -]_ , before she could spiral back too deep into her thoughts again, she then feels behind her hand an up and down movement. Almost like the person is... breathing?

Seiko sort of hears the person saying, _"... try to focus..... follow.... in... 4... hold.... 6.... out for 8... close.. eyes?"_ It's horribly muffled and cut off but Seiko strains to hear it. Anything to stop the ringing in her ears. To stop her body from shaking.

She tries to follow the instructions as best as she could. She closes her eyes and tries to inhale for _[4 seconds...?]_ , hold for 6 seconds, but she fails. She's still hyperventilating. She whimpers.

Seiko hears the voice again, this time trying to comfort her, _"It's okay.... again... with me..."_

She tries to copy her breathing with the movement she feels beneath her palm on the person's chest. Doing it several times, and messing up a few times. After what felt like an eternity, but might have just been a few minutes, she can finally hear the voice properly.

"You can do it..." The voice was definitely a boy's. It was soft, comforting, encouraging.

She inhales again for 4 seconds, holds for 6 seconds, and exhales for 8 seconds. Seiko uses her free hand to wipe at her eyes, and she opens them, seeing a complete stranger right in front of her, smiling.

It takes her a moment to process that the (admittedly cute) stranger in front of her was the person helping her with her - [Oh God.. I just had a panic attack, didn't I?]. But before she could wallow in self pity, she snapped her attention back to the stranger in front of her.

"H-hello.." she tried to greet, but her voice came out raspy yet wet.

The stranger's smile seemed to brighten. "You're okay! Thank goodness! You're Seiko Iwasaki, right? I'm Hiro Tanaka, your brother's friend!"

Seiko's mind was racing. It was full of questions that needed answers. She was silent for a few seconds before asking,

"So.. you're Natsu-nii's friend?..."

The boy, Tanaka-san, nodded. "Yes. I was in the nearby park, playing around but Iwasaki-kun rang me and told me you were here so I decided to check on you. It's a shame we haven't gotten to meet yet, Iwasaki-san."

Seiko blushed faintly, "It's alright. It's nice to meet you, Tanaka-san. Thank you for helping me."

Tanaka-san's bright smile turned soft, "No need to thank me. You looked like you really needed it. I'll wait for Iwasaki-kun and your parents with you."

Seiko started to panic a bit, she definitely wasn't good at social interactions like her brother or being kind like Rikona. "Y-you don't need to!"

The boy shrugged, grinning. "I don't mind."

Tanaka-san sat down beside her, leaning back against the seat as Seiko awkwardly uncurled herself and looked around.

After a few seconds of silence, Tanaka-san stroke up a conversation and thus, a close friendship was formed.

Seiko's parents and brother plus Rikona's aunt came a few minutes later, hugging her before going to check on Rikona.

Tanaka-san stayed with them until they confirmed that Rikona was okay.

**12 + 13**

"Oi! Slowpoke! Catch up!" Tanaka exclaims, laughing as he ran up the hill.

"I'm not a slowpoke! You're just too fast!" Seiko shouts back, panting slightly as she ran after him.

She heard laughter behind her and something - rather, someone - grabbed her hand and pulls her with them while running. Seiko could recognize those eyes anywhere.

"Rikona!" The 12 year old nearly screeches at her best friend, who was cackling while pulling her along.

"Hey there! Just saw you two and decided to check what you were doing." Rikona answers while skidding to a stop just a few steps away from Tanaka, letting go of her hand.

Seiko snorts, "Okay." she says, nodding.

"I have got to go. I promised Ankoku-kun that I'd help him with something. See you two around!" Rikona starts walking backwards, waving at the two of them.

Tanaka salutes while Seiko waves back at her best friend.

"Anyways, Tanaka -" Seiko started to say but Tanaka interrupted her.

"Hey! What did I say about my name?" He whines, pouting slightly while sitting against the tree.

She rolls her eyes while walking up to him, "Call you by your first name, yeah." She sits down next to him.

"Exactly! Call me Hiro, damn it!" He told her, facing his body in her direction, still pouting.

Seiko giggles, then leans forward boldly. "Okay, _Hiro_."

She laughs more when she sees the dumbfounded expression on his face. Her eyes closing shut while laughing loudly. She tries to refrain from laughing more when all she hears as a response is silence.

While trying to catch her breath, she clutches her stomach, not yet opening her eyes. After a few seconds, Seiko opened her eyes to look back at Tana - Hiro.

She was expecting to see him holding in his laughter, or still staring at her with the dumbfounded expression, or even just staring at her blankly. But all she saw was him staring at her, looking almost winded, awed. His eyes were soft and she saw a soft and small smile forming on his lips with a faint blush on his cheeks.

When the girl saw her friend's look on his face, she blushed. "Oi. What's that face for, huh?"

That seemed to snap Hiro out of his daze as he blinked a couple of times before flushing red. "Ah. Nothing!"

Seiko stared at him with an expression saying, "You don't say?", but she decided to be merciful and shrug nonchalantly.

She saw from the corner of her eye, his shoulders sagging in relief but didn't comment.

Seiko let out a small smile as she turned to him and started to speak about random things. Words flowing naturally out of her mouth.

[He definitely owes me.]

**14 + 15**

Seiko thinks something is wrong with her.

(Or maybe if she just stopped being a pussy and admit that she has a big fat crush on Hiro she wouldn't think something is wrong with her. But Rikona and Natsu have always said that she's stubborn.)

Her inner emotional turmoil was cut off by a voice suddenly behind her, "Boo."

Seiko jumped and her head whipped back to look at - speak of the devil, her cr - _friend_ is right there (She will call him that until she stops being a pussy).

"Hiro! Geez." She clutches her still racing heart while looking at her cru - friend who was chuckling at her.

"Sorry, sorry. It just seemed that you had something on your mind. What's up?" He asks softly, his amused smile abruptly switching to a concerned frown, which makes Seiko wonder if his expressions change if she isn't looking.

"It's nothing really." She tries to wave him off but he persisted.

"It's not nothing. What's goin' on?" Hiro lays a hand on her shoulder, staring into her eyes.

Seiko tries (and fails) to stop from flushing red under his gaze. After a few seconds of what seemed to be a staring contest, Seiko broke.

"I have a crush on someone."

She sees Hiro's eyes widen and she looks down, ashamed. Because of that, she misses the conflicted yet resigned look on her friend's face as he looks at her.

A beat or two passes before Hiro speaks up again.

"Hey. It's fine. That's normal." He soothes, gently rubbing her shoulder. "Look at me?" He urges when she doesn't respond.

Seiko nods, albeit a bit shakily. "Yeah. Thanks." She looks back up with a small smile.

Seiko doesn't know how to say that she felt ashamed because she just told her crush that she had a crush. But not that fact that it was on _him_.

So she doesn't.

"Anyways, do _you_ have one?" She asks as slyly as possible, actually nervous for his answer.

Hiro stares at her for a few moments, his eyes unreadable.

He then answers, "Definitely." Seiko's heart thumped painfully in her chest, but all she does is nod and smile at him.

"She's lucky." The girl says after composing herself enough. She raises her hand and pats his chest, smiling up at him before taking a step back.

Seiko sees something flash through Hiro's eyes, too fast for her to decipher before he's smiling back at her.

"Nah. I'm the lucky one."

. . . . .

Yup. She's definitely going to have a hard time with this.

. . . . .

(She rambled about all this to Rikona, Ankoku-kun, Yamazaki-kun, and Kujo-kun later on. Their response was the four of them looking at each other with a look in their eyes before looking back at her, expressionless. What the _hell_ was that supposed to mean?)

**16 + 17**

Hiro's mind is spinning. Everything is blurry. He _hates_ it.

The boy raises his hands, gripping his hair tightly in a vain attempt to stop his mind.

Of course, it doesn't work. His mind has been spinning ever since he joined that stupid gang. He knew it was a mistake the moment they seemed suspicious. He knew it was a mistake when he was first tasked to control and kill someone. He _KNEW_ it was a mistake when they tasked him to kill _Seiko's mom._

Yet he believed them when they said that _she_ was the one who killed his family. _Why did he believe them?_ They manipulated him. He has to leave them. _Needs_ to leave them. But he can't. They left their mark on him. As one of their own. He feels the tattoo burning on his skin from where it was inked on his shoulder blade. It hurts. _[It hurts. Oh God, ithurtssomuchwhy -]_

He feels a few tears slip out and it's _stupid_ and _pathetic_ because he _**killed**_ the love of his life's _**mom**_ through _**manipulating** his own best friend to **kill his own mom**_. He does not deserve to cry. He doesn't deserve to mourn. Hell, he doesn't deserve _them_.

So why is he at her funeral? Why is he here? He shakes his head. Oh, right.

[I promised them I'd come.] He thinks, looking down and letting go of his hair.

[If I don't deserve to mourn, I won't. But I'll help _them_ mourn.] He promises in his mind, as he turns his eyes to Seiko, Natsu, and Mr. Iwasaki, who were sobbing at the loss of their mother and wife.

He feels his heart crack at the sad - no, that was an understatement, _despairing_ sight. It feels so _wrong_ seeing his best friend, his love, and his personal father figure's faces so grief-stricken. It only strengthens his resolve to help them heal.

[They need someone.] His mind says. [They don't deserve to go through it like you did.] He says to himself, looking back down at his hands with a pained face.

Then just for a moment, he sees darkness surround him. His hands are stained with blood and he hears sobbing all around him.

Hiro's eyes snap back up and look around. All at once, everything cleared up and it was back to the sight of a now small family of three, grieving together with people all around them, crying at different degrees. Instead of darkness consuming just him, it's consuming everyone, who were wearing dark clothes to signify the mournful event.

He sees Mizuki, Ankoku, Yamazaki, and Kujo within the crowd. He feels his heart crack more at their downcast expressions on their faces. He sees Kujo and Yamazaki's mostly blank faces, but sees the horrible pain in their eyes and their faint tear stained cheeks. He saw Ankoku shed a few tears earlier and is now just staring at nothing. He sees Mizuki's eyes at the verge of tears on her otherwise expressionless face.

The 17 year old boy feels sick. He buries his face in his hands, and against his will, he begins to cry. Sobbing silently, the boy apologizes so profusely to the dead mother and wife. Both out loud and in his head. The people around him shoot concerned looks his way, but it goes unnoticed.

It all hits at once. He killed his _best friend's_ mom. He killed his _love's_ mom. He killed his _father figure's_ wife. He killed his _mother figure_. The person who _acted more like a mother to him than his **own.**_

[Why? Why did he join them? Why did he believe them? Why did he believe them when they said _she_ was the one who killed his family? Why did they manipulate him? Why did he _let them_ manipulate him? Why didn't he speak up?]

He hears a soft and heart-wrenching sob break through him and he _hates_ it.

_[Why did he give in to their voices in his head?]_

He suddenly feels a hand on his cheek. He flinches at the gentle touch and opens his eyes. When did he close them?

His vision is slightly blurry from all the tears and he brings his hand from where it was on his ear (since when was there?) to wipe at them.

He looks up and sees Seiko's face looking at him with a pained smile. His heart cracks just a bit more.

He manages a small and pain-filled smile back and feels a hand on his shoulder, he looks to his right and sees Natsu looking at him. His best friend isn't smiling but his eyes tell him everything. His heart cracks a bit more at that.

Then lastly, he feels a hand land on top of his head, ruffling his hair a bit. He looks slightly upwards and to his left and sees Mr. Iwasaki smiling sadly down at him slightly.

His heart breaks.

He grabs them all for a group hug and holds them close. He hears Seiko start sobbing again on his chest, he feels Natsu shaking from where his arm is wrapped around his shoulders, and he sees tears falling down Mr. Iwasaki's face.

And starting now. He _will_ help them heal. No matter what. Whether it will be worthless or not.

**\- - - - -**

In the car ride back home, Seiko's head is leaning on his shoulder, seemingly sleeping. Natsu is on the front seat with Mr. Iwasaki driving.

Hiro feels drained from all the crying he did earlier, but he doesn't want to sleep. He wants - no, _needs_ to keep them safe from now on.

He would never forgive himself if he didn't.

He feels Seiko stir against his shoulder, and moves to wrap an arm around her but freezes when he hears something he didn't think he'd ever hear,

"I love you, Hiro."

It was so soft, almost inaudible if Hiro wasn't so close to her. The boy lets out a shaky exhale and wraps his arm around her.

It must be his imagination. She must mean it as a friend.

Seiko can't love him. He doesn't want her to, no matter how much he's been yearning to hear those words from her.

He doesn't deserve it. He doesn't deserve it, especially since he just killed her mother. He's stopped deserving it ever since he joined the gang.

So after a few months of healing, why does he accept her confession so happily?

Why?

. . . . .

Well, because he's a selfish person.

. . . . .

(They don't notice a certain boy wearing a trench coat walk away from the scene. His black hair covering his emotions from the world but a small, bitter smile playing on his lips as he whispers the words, "I never stood a chance.")

**17 + 18**

"Happy birthday!" Hiro greets her cheerfully, kissing her cheek before holding out a small box to her.

Seiko sees a small card under the ribbon and carefully grabs the gift, smiling at her frie - boyfriend and pulling the card out. She opens it and it reads,

_{Happy birthday, Seiko! Here. Your first gift from me, your boyfriend ;)}_

Despite the stupid message he wrote, Seiko feels her heart melt at the few words Hiro used.

"You sap." She jokes, feeling her cheeks burn as she jokingly punches his arm.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we'll be the romance that cuts through faith." He replies back, just as jokingly.

Seiko smiles. "I hope." She opens the gift and sees a small kunai. Her heart melts even more at the beautiful carvings the small weapon has.

Hiro grins at her, his cheeks turning slightly red. "Well, even if it's your birthday, we can't all have good things. Let's head to school."

The girl groans as her boyfriend laughs.

Seiko smiles again. _Boyfriend_. She could get used to that.

**18 + 19**

"I was the one who killed your mom."

Seiko blinks. Out of all the things she expected to hear from her boyfriend when she found him in his house. It wasn't that.

"What did you say?" She asks, and despite being confused, she feels nervousness pool in her stomach.

While he doesn't respond immediately, Seiko takes time to observe him and their surroundings. Hiro's clothes are all ripped at some part. His shirt's collar and hem are ripped slightly, his usual jacket is all covered in soot, the knees on his pants are covered in dirt, almost like he knelt on the ground, and his shoes are stained with mud.

She flits her eyes around the house. Everything would look the same, if not for how _wrecked_ the place looks. _What the hell happened?_

The girl looks back up at her boyfriend's eyes and almost flinches when she notices the look on it.

His eyes look... glazed, but somehow so focused it's unnerving. There's guilt, regret, grief, and an unbelievable sadness all mixed up in his eyes alone, with... a tinge of glee? Seiko is unnerved at the look on her boyfriend's eyes. He looks insane.

Seiko continues to stare worriedly at her boyfriend as he stares at her.

The room would be completely silent if there weren't a faint noise of commotion outside.

[I need to go faster... Rikona still doesn't have her Hikonan back.] She thinks, growing more panicked at the thought. Hiro snapped her out of it by repeating,

"I said that I was the one who killed your mom." His eyes abruptly turn dead. If Seiko wasn't unnerved before, she definitely was now.

"W-what do you mean by that?" She still felt uncomfortable talking about her late mother.

"I controlled Natsu's body that day. I controlled him to kill your mom." He explains.

Seiko feels tears well up at her eyes, "W-what are you saying? You didn't. You wouldn't kill my mom. She was like a mom to you, too!" She argues, desperately trying not to believe that her _own boyfriend_ would kill her mom.

His eyes turn sad now, "But I did. And I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. I worked under that gang who killed your mom before. I was going to leave but..." He looks down, as if he's ashamed.

"Y-you.. you're part of the gang trying to kill me and our friends?" She questions, not knowing if she wanted a clarification.

His face turns pained but he nods. "I was. But before I could leave, they manipulated me into thinking that she was the one who killed my family. I don't know why or how I fell for it. I just did. And anyways, even if I could've left, they left their mark on me."

She sees him start to remove his shirt, in any other situation, she would've flushed and berated him. But this isn't any other situation.

After discarding his shirt, he turns around, and what Seiko sees makes her want to puke.

She sees the tattoo those same gang members from earlier have at Hiro's shoulder blade. It was inked, but something looked wrong with it. It looks like it was.. burned?

"I tried to remove it. I wanted to try carving it, but you guys would've noticed something was wrong. So I tried burning it, it didn't work either." He says softly.

"So. Y-you really killed mom?" Her voice cracks, and so does Hiro's already damaged heart but he doesn't show it.

"Yes. And when they came back, they tasked me to kill you, now." His eyes change again, turning into a rage she has never seen on him. It was _terrifying_.

"I-I..." She chokes on her words as tears slip out of her eyes. She sees Hiro twitch slightly as he turns back to her. Like he wants to reach out but can't.

She shakes her head as she brings her hands up to rub at her eyes. She shouldn't be crying now. Her friends are risking their lives right now and her boyfriend just said he killed her mom. She _shouldn't_ cry.

She continues to shake her head as she chokes out in a broken voice, "No.. no.. why... why did you - you do that?.. S-she never did anything.. why?"

"And -"

"What could get worse than that, Hiro?!" She screams, her hands flailing in the air, away from her face. Her tears are now in full view and she sees Hiro's eyes widen.

"They injected me with you and Rikona's Hikonan."

Seiko freezes, staring wide-eyed at Hiro. She notices that he's started shaking now.

"T-that's impossible. H-how -"

"Apparently they captured you and the others and took your and Rikona's Hikonan. They injected me with it after I pretended to obey their commands to kill you. I thought it was a bluff and went to find you." He explains.

He looks down at his scarred and shaking hands. "When I realized you guys were in Kujo's place and injured. I _knew_ they had taken you. I didn't know about that Yako girl, but I have heard of her within the gang." He continues, shakily.

Seiko cannot believe what she is hearing. She can't process any of these news. It sounds completely insane. But if her boyfriend's eyes were saying anything earlier, it almost makes sense.

She inhaled shakily, "T-then?" she stammered.

"When I went back.. I tried to get your Hikonan out of me. But - but it was overwhelming. I feel horrible. Everything is moving. I can't - I can't think straight." He grips at his hair, shaking violently now.

"Hiro -" she reaches out a trembling hand in an attempt to stop him from hurting himself before he abruptly looked up and basically orders her,

"Seiko, kill me."

Seiko's hand stops mid-air, she stares at her boyfriend, her incredulous, wet eyes on him.

"Wha -"

"Seiko - kill me. Kill me, Seiko. I know you want to. Deep down you do - so kill me. Kill me now. I left a recorder in the room, it has all the evidence you need for the police. Just - kill me, Seiko. I don't want to spiral to insanity." He continues, stammering and stumbling over his words.

Seiko watches, horrified.

"If I'm still alive, they'll manipulate me. Which might mean they'll ma-manipulate you, too. I can't have that - I promised I would protect you guys. To keep you safe, no matter what. To let you heal. And I failed - kill me, Seiko. Please - God, just kill me."

Seiko couldn't believe her ears and she snaps,

"NO!"

Hiro looks up to her, eyes wide, filled with insanity now.

"I-I won't kill you. Why the hell would I kill you? I won't. I can't. I-I can't - I can't lose you, too." She stutters horribly in her attempt to get the words out.

"No - no. You can lose me. I believe - no, I know you can move on. So - m-move on from me, yeah -"

"No - k-killing you means n-never seeing you again - I can't -"

"We will." He interrupts her, his voice has so much conviction in it that Seiko can't help but smile bitterly through the tears.

"How do you know?" She asks brokenly. Her throat hurting from the screaming.

"It's happened before, love." Hiro smiles softly through the insanity. And just like that, Seiko sees their surroundings change.

She sees a completely different person in front of her, not Hiro. She feels like she knows this person. But unlike Hiro's tied up black bangs, the boy has messy brown locks. His eyes, instead of a gray color, is emerald green. But his smile - God, his soft smile is so like Hiro's that she can't help but make them one in the same.

And just like nothing happened, she blinks and everything's the same.

[What was that?] She tries to process what just happened.

"So will you kill me?" She snaps her head up at her boyfriend's voice.

Seiko suddenly feels exhausted, drained.

"Why? Isn't there another way?" She asks helplessly.

Hiro shakes his head, his soft smile turning sad as he tilts his head.

Seiko sighs, and looks down, thinking.

After a few tense moments, Seiko looks back up. "Okay." She knows she will regret this.

Hiro smiles and reaches into his pants pocket, pulling out an object that almost made Seiko start crying again.

It was her kunai.

His first gift to her as her boyfriend.

"Y-you sap." She chokes out.

Hiro's smile widens the tiniest bit. "Well, it looks like our romance wasn't the one that cuts through faith." He retorts.

Seiko, against her will, starts crying again as she shakily takes the kunai and stares into Hiro's eyes. Insane but still held all that gentleness he's had ever since they met.

"H-Hiro.. I-I can't.. You -" Seiko cuts herself off by shaking her head and inhaling slowly.

"I'm breaking up with you if you're really making me do this."

That startles a small laugh out of Hiro and Seiko's heart feels just a bit lighter.

Seiko walks up to him, keeping her eyes trained on him.

Hiro keeps the smile on his face throughout it. Even when Seiko's shakily raising the kunai to position it in front of his heart.

"H-Hiro - I can't -"

"You can do it."

Blood splatters unto the floor and unto Seiko's hands. Different colored glows surround them as she falls to the floor, clutching Hiro's limp body.

Nothing but heartbreaking sobs were heard until the door was busted open.

**TIMESKIP: A FEW YEARS LATER**

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Seiko smiles as she sees each one of her friends, her brother, and her boyfriend look at her worriedly.

"I've been doing this for years, guys. No need to get worked up about it every time." She says in a teasing tone.

Natsu snorts, "Doesn't stop us from worrying about you every time, either."

"Yeah, but... he was, y'know..." Yako trails off awkwardly.

"Yeah. He was special to you." Satoshi says, softly.

"He was special to all of us. Maybe not Yako but, you're sure you want to do this?" Akira asks, his eyes looking back up from the ground.

Seiko nods, "Yep." she says popping the 'p'.

Rikona smiles, "Okay. Good luck. I visited him earlier with Jordan just in case you wanted to be alone if you wanted to visit."

Jordan nods along, "Mhm. I've got some things to sort out, so I'll leave you alone, if that's okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks, you guys." She bids them goodbye before walking into the cemetery.

"Hey there, Hiro." Seiko greets once she arrives in front of the grave. She sits down on the grass and lays a small bouquet of flowers on it.

"Happy death anniversary, sap."

She continues to talk about things like he was there. The words flowing naturally out of her mouth.

She talks about her new relationship with Jordan, about Rikona's new job, Natsu and Akira's hilarious bromance, Yako and Satoshi's relationship, and so much more.

After her long recap, she finally admits, "So... it looks like I've moved on. I still wish you were here. It's different without you."

Seiko smiles as she looks down on the grave. "I love you, Hiro. I'll see you on the other side. Wherever that is."

And right in front of her, a boy, who was sitting on his own grave, smiles. "I'll be waiting for you."

Seiko hears something. It was almost inaudible but she managed to catch it.

_"I'll be waiting for you."_

She grins.

\- - - - -

Now up above, Hiro smiles down at the person he loved(/s?) the most.

"Looks like it was worth it, after all."


End file.
